Improved technique or nostalgie de la boue?

(Thoughts at the end of the conference)  I’ve come to Las Vegas for the 6th annual conference of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE).  Several hundred teachers, administrators, and teacher educators have gathered to discuss single gender education.  My informal impression is that most of them are from schools that are trying out some single sex classrooms.  Some teachers I spoke to taught a couple of boy classes and a couple of girl classes.  There were a couple of private boys schools represented.  There weren’t many schools that were entirely single gender like YOKA.

The opening speaker was Leonard Sax, the director of the organization and one of the intellectual forces behind the single gender movement.  I had expected to hear about the latest brain research that studied the differences between male and female brains and learning,  but instead Dr. Sax made an eloquent plea for a return to the “Community of Men” and “Community of Women” that socialized boys and girls into their roles in society.  He mentioned sewing circles and working on cars as examples of what adult women and men taught to girls and boys.  (Can you guess who learned which skill?)

This made me a little uneasy since in addition to sewing and fixing engines this socialization also included the admonition to obey the husband and make him a beautiful home (girls) and the authorization to bring home the bacon and beat the wife if she got out of line (boys).   (Not to mention the transmitted views of homosexuality.)

Then I got really uncomfortable when he cited two cultures that had lasted because they had clear definitions of the roles of men and women:  Orthodox Judaism and Navajo culture.  I don’t know much about Navajo culture, nor about Orthodox Judaism, but I do know that the latter is virulently sexist and homophobic.

These less savory historical features didn’t dim the rosy glow, the nostalgie de la boue, presented in his speech.  For me he crossed over from the goal of finding the best way to teach the same standards and content to both genders to a mission to resurrect a past that exalted men and oppressed women.   That’s not what I signed on for, and I don’t think it’s the prevailing attitude at my school (Young Oak Kim Academy).

The other workshops at the conference were much more practical and focused on strategies and techniques for reaching boys and girls.  The best aspect of these presentations was the chance to hear from very effective teachers who had extensive experience in single gender education.   It’s always inspiring and informative to listen to great teachers.

I learned  a lot about brain differences and behavioral differences that suggested divergent techniques for teaching.   There seemed to be agreement that it was harder to get boys to use teamwork, that boys didn’t hear as well, and that boys‘ brains were stronger in spatial manipulation than reading and writing skills.  I went to one workshop that emphasized the importance of movement for both boys and girls.  Another stressed the efficacy of small group learning environments.

All in all it was a useful conference.  It was clear that there are no sure fire techniques that never fail, but I still learned a lot about different ways to improve my teaching.  I came away with a bunch of suggestions and a greater overall understanding of the potential benefits and pitfalls of single gender education.  Here are some caveats to this trend:

• Attempts to define how boys and girls learn differently can lead to better teaching practices tailored to the strengths of each group. 
• Many boys and girls don’t fit the mold of divergent learning styles based on gender, and these differences are a gradation between extremes with a large overlap.
• Generalizations about how boys and girls learn differently must not become rules or expectations to impose on them.
• The vast areas of commonality between boys and girls based on developmental and social factors must always drive the major part of curriculum and instruction.

So, tomorrow it’s back to school.  I’ve enjoyed the chance to reflect on my teaching and other broader issues of education.  We’ll see how things go in class tomorrow...